Nordex: Order for 45 MW wind farm in Turkey

Hamburg, 23 November 2010.

Business is booming for Nordex Enerji A.S. The latest order obtained by the Turkish subsidiary of Nordex SE is for the supply of 18 machines for the “Susurluk” wind farm. The farm is owned by Iltek Iletisim, the energy subsidiary of the Eksim Group, which invests in projects in the renewables sector in Turkey.

Eksim already owns a 63 MW operating hydroelectric power station in the Black Sea region of Turkey and has seven licences for wind farms with a total capacity of 246 MW. “Susurluk” is the first wind project to be built. Nordex will be installing the turbines in the province of Balikesir in the coming weeks at elevations of between 320 and 470 metres. In order to make optimal use of the wind here the customer decided to purchase 15 N100/2500 turbines and three N90/2500 machines. These are expected to generate 145 gigawatt hours of clean energy a year and can power more than 70,000 Turkish households. The capacity factor is approximately 38 percent.

Nordex plans to hand over the wind farm to the Eksim Group as early as spring 2011.

Reference: http://www.nordex-online.com/en/news-press/news-detail.html?tx_ttnews[tt_news]=2119&tx_ttnews[backPid]=1&cHash=c34f8a1efe

Eksim signs huge wind turbine lease deal

Turkey’s Eksim Group has signed a 68 million-euro ($94 million) lease for turbines to be used in two wind-power projects it is developing in the country’s north.

The agreement with the Turkish bank Yapı Kredi marks the largest lease financing in Turkey’s clean energy sector to date, according to a statement on Yapı Kredi’s website. The bank purchased the turbines from Germany’s Nordex.

The lease runs for 10 years, with a two-year extension option. When it runs out, Eksim will pay a “symbolic fee” to assume ownership of the equipment, Eksim’s deputy chief executive officer Ekrem Yıldırım wrote in an e-mail Thursday.

The two 40-megawatt wind projects are in the Amasya and Tokat regions and require investment of 84 million euros, the bank said in the statement.

Construction is under way at both sites. The Amasya project is expected to go live in the third quarter of 2011, and the Tokat wind farm should begin operation the next quarter, Yıldırım said.

Eksim has seven licensed wind projects in the works and applications pending for 13 more, he said. The company eventually plans to have 1.2 gigawatts of wind capacity.

Eksim Group is mainly active in renewable energy, real estate & construction, mining, food and commodity trading. It also has investments in other countries, such as Kazakhstan and the Ukraine.


Reference :

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=eksim-signs-huge-wind-turbine-lease-deal-2010-11-11

Minister: Renewables delay won’t change pricing

Turkey won’t increase the prices it guarantees to buy alternative energy in draft legislation that’s before parliament, Energy Minister Taner Yıldız said.

The renewable energy law’s progress through the assembly has been delayed until after a week-long religious holiday next week, and the postponement doesn’t mean there will be a revision, Yıldız said Tuesday in comments confirmed Wednesday by his staff.

The draft guarantees a price of 5.5 euro cents (7 U.S. cents) per kilowatt-hour for wind and hydroelectric power and 10 cents for solar energy, the minister said. Companies are already investing in wind power at those levels and they are “investable figures,” he said in Ankara.



Turkey is seeking to reduce its dependence on imported gas from Russia and Iran by encouraging alternative energy production. Excluding energy, the country’s current-account last year produced a surplus of 0.5 percent of gross domestic product, or GDP, according to the Treasury. Including energy, the deficit was 2.3 percent of GDP.

Potential investors are lobbying lawmakers for prices of 7 cents for wind energy and 20 cents for solar.

Solar energy is a developing technology and the price Turkey’s setting marks a “starting point” and could be revised as the industry develops, Yıldız said.

Reference: http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=minister-renewables-delay-won8217t-change-pricing-2010-11-10

GE’s Turkish unit eyes producing wind turbines

As the effects of the global financial crisis wane, General Electric’s Turkish unit revisits a plan to manufacture wind turbines in the country. ‘If the number of companies that need financing through export insurers falls, then we may dust off plans to make the equipment in Turkey,’ says Mete Maltepe, the chief of GE’s local energy unit

General Electric, which intends to expand its Turkish energy business as the government sells off power assets, may revive a plan developed before the 2008 global crisis to build wind turbines in the country.

Local unit General Elektrik may start manufacturing turbines and so-called nacelle casings, with half the output likely to be sold within Turkey as the government targets a 20-fold increase in wind capacity by 2020, said Mete Maltepe, the general manager of GE Energy Turkey.

Turkish companies have been going overseas to buy wind-generation equipment because they relied on export insurers such as Euler Hermes, the world’s largest insurer of trade credit, when financing was scarce. Generators will be more likely to be bought domestically as the global recovery takes hold and more loan facilities become available, Maltepe said.

“If the number of companies that need financing through export insurers such as Hermes falls, and we do expect it to change, then we may dust off plans to make the equipment in Turkey,” he said. “We are ready for that.”

GE will expand its energy business in Turkey and keep overall investment in the nation the same even after the sale of a stake in the country’s second largest bank, Kürşat Özkan, head of GE’s Turkish operations, said Oct. 1.

GE agreed to sell 18.6 percent of Garanti Bank to Spain’s Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria for $3.78 billion as part of a global effort to reduce its financial assets.

GE wants to generate “significant” business as Turkey increases wind power capacity to 20,000 megawatts by 2020 from less than 1,000 megawatts now, Maltepe said. Currently GE gets turbine wings and poles from Turkish producers. On average, 1 MW of power can supply electricity to as many as 300 households per year.

GE has provided about 8,000 megawatts, or 17 percent, of Turkey’s power capacity, mainly with gas and steam turbines and some wind turbines, Maltepe said. GE turbines account for about 30 percent of total generation, he said.

A planned government incentive of 5.5 euro cents per kilowatt-hour to wind power producers needs to be increased to at least 7.5 cents to justify investments, he said. The subsidy is awaiting parliamentary approval.

Wind turbine prices, which fell during the global economic crisis, have steadied and will start rising unless other, less-costly sources of renewable energy are developed, Maltepe said.

Investments in Turkey

GE Energy Financial Services bought half of Ankara-based Gama Enerji in 2007 and announced plans to invest at least $4 billion until 2015 to build 3,000 megawatts of power plants in Turkey and the Middle East. GE will invest in energy by itself or with a partner as Turkey expects to double its national power capacity to 90,000 megawatts in 10 years, said Özkan.

The company will seek to tap a market for the so-called smart grids that may be worth $2 billion after the government sells off electricity distribution assets, Maltepe said. The government will raise as much as $16 billion from the sale of 20 electricity grids, due to be completed by the end of this year, Energy Minister Taner Yıldız said Oct. 12.

“We don’t expect new operators of the grids to immediately start seeking smart grid systems as they will first have to deal with the existing network improvements,” Maltepe said. “We are already in talks with four or five companies on this but we expect the real interest in smart grids within two years.”

Smart grids use digital technology to optimize power use. Siemens and Areva are the main competitors in this market, Maltepe said.

GE’s energy unit may buy Turkish companies that make equipment for low- and medium-voltage transmission networks, Maltepe said. “We are looking around and in talks for this, but we don’t know when the talks will conclude.”

Reference: http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=ge8217s-turkish-unit-eyes-producing-wind-turbines-2010-11-10

Nordex supplies 24 large turbines to Turkey

Order for turnkey project and wind farm extension

Hamburg, 26 October 2010.

Nordex has obtained the order for the turnkey installation of a wind farm in Turkey. Nordex is building the “Akres” project with 18 N90/2500 machines for Karesi Enerji, a subsidiary of the Turkish transformer manufacturer Best. In addition to this, the wind farm operator Dost Enerji has ordered six N90/2500 turbines for the extension of “Yuntdag”.


The “Akres” site is located near the city of Akhisar in the west of Turkey. Thanks to very good wind conditions, the capacity factor stands at around 42 percent. The turbines are able to produce 170 gigawatt hours of clean energy a year and supply some 90,000 Turkish households. The 45 MW wind farm is to be handed over to Karesi Enerji in summer 2011.


“Turnkey projects number among Nordex’s core competences worldwide. Now we can show what our project management is capable of in Turkey, too”, says Ayhan Gök, Nordex CEO in Turkey.


The order for the extension of the “Yuntdag” wind farm underlines Dost Enerji’s confidence in Nordex. “Yuntdag” (17 N90/2500s) had marked the start of Nordex’s entry into the Turkish market in 2007. The six machines to be added to the farm in summer 2011 provide an energy yield of 59 gigawatt hours per annum.

Reference:

http://www.nordex-online.com/en/news-press/news-detail.html?tx_ttnews[tt_news]=2106&tx_ttnews[backPid]=1&cHash=b8ddcc54ea

Is It Another Problem Waiting for Wind Energy Project Developers?

20 September 2010, by Middle East wind energy editor H. Erkoc

Turkish wind energy developers who have been expecting to be granted their generation licences in the last quarter of 2010 since November 2007 have been struggling with a new problem lately.

The projects cannot be licensed because they cannot get approval from Turkish General Staff on the grounds that the wind turbines built may interfere with radar and military monitoring systems.

Although it has been stated by several authorities and technical experts that wind turbines do not cause interference with radar systems more than 12 wind farms in western part of Turkey with a total capacity of 460 MW are waiting for their approval letters from General Staff. GS states that they need report of The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey – TÜBİTAK regarding the issue and that official request had been sent.

Since wind farm licensing process in Turkey requires positive opinions from all related authorities, developers who cannot get this approval are not able to start construction. Also because of late response time of General Staff to official enquiries of developers makes the situation worse than it should be.

Despite the country’s potential and willingness of both foreign and domestic investors, Turkish wind industry is not able to kick start because of legislative problems. The slow processing times within governmental institutions and offices, lack of precise technical knowledge partly due to the industry’s being relatively new in Turkey is keeping the industry as a toddler and it cannot stand on its feet, which seems to be the same for near future too.

Wind Energy News

332 million kWh electricity from new wind farm

Agaoglu Group of Companies which is operating in many sectors ranging from real estate to tourism, and now wind energy, started construction of a new wind farm in Bandirma which is expected to generate 332 million kWh electricity annually.

http://www.sirkethaberleri.com/basin-bultenleri/agaoglu-sah-ruzg%C3%A2r-enerjisi-santraliyle-yilda-332-milyon-kwh-enerji-uretecek-50802

Turkey will be connected to European grid through smart grid technology

Turkey will be connected to European electricity grid through smart grid technology of GE and will be able to trade electricity with Europe after Spetember 2010.

http://www.yenienerji.info/?pid=23752

Soyutwind to fund wind energy projects with their American business partner

Soyutwind, a company of Soyut Holding, which is also a wind turbine manufacturer, will be funding wind energy investments in Turkey together with their business partner. The USA leg of the business will be an investment company and the pre-agreements have been signed.

http://www.guneshaber.net/haber/770-sirket-haberleri-abd39li-ortagiyla-ruzgar-yatirimlarini-fonlayacak.html

Minister of Energy expecting a wind turbine industry in Turkey

Minister of Energy Hilmi Güler says that the wind turbine industry already has a market in Turkey and it can become as strong as automotive industry in Turkey.

http://www.haberler.com/ruzgar-tribunu-ile-yeni-bir-otomotiv-sektoru-haberi/

Wind will make coffee

Starbucks coffee will use renewable based energy in their 63 shops throughout Turkey. Starbucks will be buying their electricity from Akenerji through an interconnected system.

http://www.gazete5.com/haber/starbucks-ruzgar-enerjisini-kullanacak-12-agustos-201-34742.htm

Renewable energy investments to ramp up

Hyped up interest in renewable energy investments may be perceived as a sign of Turkish business world attaching importance to climate change. Next year, the Energy Market Regulatory Authority expects to see private sector investments worth 3.5 billion Turkish Liras to renewable energy. The energy ministry aims to increase renewable energy’s share in Turkey’s total energy resources to at least 30 percent by 2023.

his year some 5 billion Turkish Liras worth of private sector investments will be added to Turkey’s energy market, said Hasan Köktaş, chairman of the Energy Market Regulatory Authority, or EMRA.

Facilities generating 2,833 megawatts energy stepped into the local energy market last year, said Köktaş on Sunday. Some 1,400 megawatts of that figure was from natural gas, while 1,000 megawatts was from renewable energy sources, including hydroelectric and wind. “This figure is the highest attained for the past seven years. In 2010 we aim to surpass the 2009 figure.”

Based on the reports received by the authority, some 3.5 billion liras out of the total 5 billion liras investment, which will be implemented by the private sector, will be on renewable energy, Köktaş said, adding that the remaining 1.4 billion will be on natural gas resources.

In 2010, 3,400 megawatts of installed capacity is expected to step in to the market, said Köktaş. The annual energy production of the facilities will be 21 billion kilowatt per hour, he added. Besides providing energy, newly established facilities will also help increase employment opportunities, Köktaş said.

“We have started on sight inspection for the energy investments last year. We will continue to do so starting April. We will visit the development sites of the companies that have received licenses. The licenses of the companies that have not made the investments they have promised will be canceled,” said Köktaş.

At a separate meeting in Ankara on Sunday, Energy Minister Taner Yıldız, told the members of the Parliament that the ministry was aiming to increase renewable energy’s share in Turkey’s energy resources to at least 30 percent by 2023. Natural gas’ share in the country’s energy recourses is foreseen to be lowered to below 30 percent, he added.

EMRA provided licenses for wind turbines that will have 3,350 megawatts of installed capacity, Yıldız said. In 2002, Turkey had next to none wind energy recourses, he said. In 2009, wind energy capacity of the country reached 802 megawatts, Yıldız said and added that figure will increase to 2,200 megawatts within the next two years.

As per November 2009, Turkey added wind turbines with installed capacity of 374 megawatts. Hydroelectric power plants with 564 megawatts installed capacity also stepped in by that time and geothermal energy plants with installed capacity of 47.4 megawatts were added to the country’s energy resources by November 2009.

Turkey’s installed capacity of electrical energy was 31,845 megawatts in 2002. That’s figure rose to 44,782 megawatts by 2009. Some 7,087 megawatts of that comes from projects launched and completed in that period.